Austin
Professionally In Love With Pets
Ottawa
About Austin
I've been hopelessly obsessed with animals my whole life! I've never lived without dogs or cats, and never would!
I offer dog walking and regular check-ins with dogs and other animals! I'll happily spend time cuddling and entertaining them on visits that can range from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on your needs and our agreement. My availability is open in the daytime and most early evenings, other than Tuesdays and Thursdays. Weekends are open but subject to changes every once in a while!
For close to a year I was an associate manager and pet care specialist at the PetSmart Petshotel. There I took all of my love and personal experience with dogs and cats and added industry training in things like behaviour assessment, lead training, comforting dogs in new environments, minor grooming, and more. The biggest thing I took away from that job was learning how to earn the trust of certain dogs that were particularly standoffish, or dogs that had a hard time trusting men because of traumatic pasts. I had amazing and affirming personal successes with dogs that tended to not trust any men besides me. A black lab named Lola and a mini poodle named Pearl were my biggest successes. I adored them both and, in the end, we were inseparable!
I've dog sat and dog walked for friends, family, colleagues, and distant connections my whole life. I love spending time with animals, and now that I work in my actual field (communications) I don't get to see them in droves day in and day out the way I use to. And I miss them! My baby is an 12-year-old calico named Dany (short for Daenerys). I rescued her 8 years ago and I am hopelessly in love with the fluffy, chatty little nugget. Her favourite show is Pingu! I'm pleased to offer home visits to care for, play with, and walk your pets. My Dany takes a lot of time to warm up to animals, so I won't be offering any boarding for now. For walks, I'll heavily prefer one dog at a time. It's always much safer and secure to focus my attention on keeping one dog safe and ensuring they have the most fun and exercise! I'm happy to meet beforehand and discuss specifics and let your pets sniff me up and see if I pass their test!